Method and system configured for facilitating management of international trade receivables transactions

ABSTRACT

A receivables transaction management platform is configured for facilitating management of international trade receivables transactions. The platform includes a task manager layer and a platform functionality layer. The task manager layer is configured for facilitating management of transaction information workflow tasks and export receivables tasks. The platform functionality layer is accessible by at least a portion of the managers and is configured for enabling facilitation of the transaction information workflow tasks and the export receivables tasks. Managing the transaction information workflow tasks and export receivables tasks includes facilitating preparation of a document and data portfolio required for settlement of an international trade receivables transaction, facilitating electronic submission of the document and data portfolio to a designated recipient and facilitating acceptance of the document and data portfolio. The platform functional components are configured for enabling user workflow functionality, data mapping functionality, data analysis functionality, data storage functionality and third party access functionality.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Non-Provisionalpatent application having Ser. No. 12/924,193 filed Sep. 22, 2010 andentitled “Method and System Configured for Facilitating Management ofInternational Trade Receivables Transactions'” which claims priority toU.S. Non-Provisional patent application having Ser. No. 10/581,987 filedAug. 31, 2007 entitled “Method and System Configured for FacilitatingManagement of International Trade Receivables Transactions,” whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No.60/529,634 filed Dec. 12, 2003 entitled “Digital Document Manager AndOn-Line Letter Of Credit Document Negotiation Platform.”

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosures made herein relate generally to methods and systemsconfigured for processing data and, more particularly, to methods andsystems configured for facilitating management international tradereceivables transactions.

BACKGROUND

Exporting of goods is a sizable component to the economy of mostindustrialized nations. For example, companies based in the UnitedStates (U.S.) account for as much as about $1 trillion of exported goodseach year. However, even in view of the significant volume of goods andrelated financial transactions associated with exporting of goodsinternationally, international trade still has a heavy reliance of thecostly creation and hand-delivery of transaction information (i.e.,documents and/or data) for clearance through customs and financialsettlement. Recently heightened homeland security policies andrequirements on international trade only serve to further burdenconventional approaches to facilitating international trade. Inquantifying the degree of this burden, a survey by the United Nationsestimated administrative costs for international trade to be as high asabout 7% of world trade.

Administrative tasks for international trade and their associatedfinancial costs are felt not only by financial institutions, but also bycompanies large and small. Relatively large companies (i.e., about 500or more employees) account for as much as about 71% of U.S. exportsvalue and relatively small companies (i.e., less than about 100employees) represent as much as about 89% of U.S. exporting entities.Regardless of size or global location, conventional approaches forfacilitating international trade adversely impact nearly all exporters.

Export letters of credit are a key component to facilitatinginternational trade. An export letter of credit ensures that an exporter(i.e., a seller) of goods will receive payment from a foreign customerordering such goods (i.e., a buyer). Facilitating international tradevia an export letter of credit includes the exporter requiring that thecustomer's bank issue a letter of credit. The export letter of creditserves to substitute the credit standing of the customer's bank (i.e.,the issuing bank) for that of the customer, thereby minimizing the riskof non-payment due to factors arising from various considerations (e.g.,political and/or financial considerations).

An export letter of credit is one example of a payment contract. Otherpayment contracts used in international trade include documentarycollections and open account transaction payment. In the case of theexport letter of credit, the buyer's financial institution's credit issubstituted for the buyer's credit and the buyer must deliver multiplecompliant transaction information to banks within a limited time periodin order to be paid under the letter of credit. In documentarycollection payment contracts, the buyer cannot receive the title to thepurchased goods until making payment for the goods at the local bankoffice. In an open account payment contract, the buyer may receive thegoods without payment but is expected to pay the seller within a fixedperiod of time. In every case, multiple compliant transactioninformation must be delivered to various parties involved in eachtransaction to satisfy the terms of the applicable payment contract.

A transaction for facilitating payment in international trade isreferred to herein as an international trade receivables transaction.From a buyer's standpoint, such a financial transaction is a paymenttransaction. Conversely, from a seller's standpoint, such a transactionis a receivables transaction.

Conventional approaches for facilitating international trade receivablestransactions are known to have one or more shortcomings. One example ofsuch shortcomings is that complying with transaction informationrequired for payment contracts of international trade receivablestransactions is generally tedious and complex work for the treasury,credit and/or logistics departments of most companies, which frequentlyleads to errors in such transaction information, and delays indelivering compliant transaction information. As a result payment isoften delayed, reduced or not received and companies generally have lowproductivity and/or increased headcount in their international businessgroups to address these issues. Another example of such shortcomings isthat one or more of the required parties in an international tradereceivables transaction (e.g., the buyer, the seller, the issuing bank,the confirming bank, etc) are often not appropriately aware of importantrequirements within a particular payment contract, again resulting indelays in payment, underpayment or non-payment. Yet another example ofsuch shortcomings is that much of the required transaction information(e.g., documents) associated with a payment contract for aninternational trade receivables transaction are prepared by third partyvenders (e.g., freight forwarders, carriers, insurance providers,inspection companies and the like), which often leads to transactioninformation that is non-compliant with respect to the payment contractand which require significant time and expense to aggregate, proof andcorrect, resulting in further delay. One last example of suchshortcomings is that many companies have distributed functionaldepartments (e.g., manufacturing, billing, credit and logisticsdepartments) that may be separated by several thousands of miles, whichdue to inherent logistical issues (e.g., language barriers, courieringtimelines, business hours, etc) often contributes to relatively slow andcostly internal processing of required transaction informationassociated with payment contracts for an international trade receivablestransaction.

Therefore, facilitating management of international trade receivablestransactions in a manner that overcomes one or more of the shortcomingsassociated with conventional approaches for facilitating management ofinternational trade receivables transactions would be advantageous,useful and novel.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The inventive disclosures made herein enable international tradereceivables transactions to be facilitated in a manner that overcomesshortcomings associated with conventional approaches for facilitatingmanagement of international trade receivables transactions. In thismanner, systems and methods in accordance with the inventive disclosuresmade herein streamline complex documentation and settlement processes ofinternational trade receivables transactions for exporters andassociated parties such as banks, importers and freight forwarders.These systems and methods are configurable for supporting a variety ofinternational trade receivables processes ranging from an open accounttransaction process to a letter of credit transaction process. Theadvantages of these systems and methods include, but are not limited to,improving the accuracy of information (e.g., documentation) forinternational trade receivables transactions, reducing days salesoutstanding (DSO), reducing direct documentation creation, delivery andpayment processing costs, and increasing operational efficiencies andcollaboration of various non-centralized transaction parties (e.g.,remote employees, financial institutions, third-party service providers,etc).

A transaction receivables management platform is one embodiment of theinventive disclosures made herein. The transaction receivablesmanagement platform dictates workflow that controls the receipt ofrelevant transaction information and enables the creation, review,approval, and distribution of accurate transaction information ininternational trade receivables transactions. It is implemented andconfigured in a manner that provides for a flexible, secure and reliablemeans of presenting such transaction information via a globallyaccessible public network such as the Internet. It is structured as onecommon content platform with information repository and is configuredfor facilitating transaction information (e.g., document) uploading andarchiving, inter-party communications and information storage andretrieval. Another capability is real-time trade receivables reportingand business intelligence, which serves to proactively manage cost andrisk.

In one embodiment of the inventive disclosures made herein, areceivables transaction management platform is configured forfacilitating management of international trade receivables transactions.The platform includes a task manager layer and a platform functionalitylayer. The task manager layer is configured for facilitating managementof transaction information workflow tasks and the export receivablestasks. The platform functionality layer is accessible by at least aportion of the managers and is configured for enabling facilitation ofthe transaction information workflow tasks and the export receivablestasks.

In another embodiment of the inventive disclosures made herein, acomputer-implemented method is configured for facilitating management ofinternational trade receivables transactions. The method comprisesfacilitating system-managed preparation of transaction informationrequired for settlement of an international trade receivablestransaction and facilitating system-managed acceptance of saidtransaction information.

In another embodiment of the inventive disclosures made herein, acomputer-implemented method is configured for facilitating exportreceivables workflow tasks. The method comprises a plurality ofinterrelated and/or complimentary operations. After uploading anelectronic copy of a payment contract upon which an international tradereceivables transaction is dependent, operations are performedstandardizing such data, for selecting required documents comprised by atransaction information portfolio (e.g., selecting them from acustomized user library), facilitating system-managed verification ofthe required documents and bundling the document portfolio whereby anassociation is provided between data elements (e.g., populatable fieldsand their contents) in each of the documents. The method furtherincludes operations for enabling the delivery of the bundled documentsto recipients and the communication of the receiver's disposition of thedocuments as being discrepant or acceptable, enabling a descriptioncorresponding to a corresponding discrepancy to be specified andenabling revised versions of discrepant portions of the documents to bere-submitted individually or in the aggregate to the designatedrecipient.

Advantageously, methods and systems in accordance with the inventivedisclosures made herein are configured in a manner enabling transactioninformation (i.e., documents and/or data) for an international tradereceivables transaction to be verified as being compliant with thePublication 500 of the International Chamber of Commerce's UniformCustoms and Practice for Documentary Credits including a recentsupplement to the UCP 500 to cover the deliver of transactioninformation electronically (“e-UCP”) where applicable. Such compliance,including e-UCP is applicable, is referred to herein as being UCP 500compliant. UCP 500 is the international banking standard by which letterof credit information is reviewed. It governs considerations such aswhat is an original document, what is an original signature, etc.

In accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein, transactioninformation is configured (e.g., designed, prepared and maintained) in amanner that is UCP 500 compliant, including e-UCP where applicable.Accordingly, through verification of the transaction information, thetransaction information has been determined to be UCP 500 compliant, anddigitally delivered transaction information is certified as being UCP500 compliant. Such UCP 500 compliant transaction information includessignatures (e.g., printed signatures and/or digital signatures)indicating and certifying that such transaction information is UCP 500compliant and include system-implemented markings that indicate whichportions of such transaction information (e.g., which printed documents)are copies and which are originals.

These and other objects, advantages and/or embodiments of the inventivedisclosures made herein will become readily apparent upon further reviewof the following specification and associated drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a receivables transaction managementplatform in accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein.

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a workflow structure for facilitatingmanagement of international trade receivables transactions in accordancewith the inventive disclosures made herein.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a computer-implemented method configuredfor facilitating management of international trade receivablestransactions in accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of an operation for facilitatingpreparation of a transaction information portfolio for the internationaltrade receivables transaction in accordance with the method depicted inFIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of an operation for facilitating submissionof the transaction information portfolio for reception by the designatedrecipient in accordance with the method depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of an operation for facilitatingsystem-managed acceptance of the transaction information portfolio inaccordance with the method depicted in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a receivables transaction managementplatform 100 in accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein.The receivables transaction management platform 100 includes a taskmanager layer 102 and a platform functionality layer 104, which arespecifically configured for enabling international trade receivablestransactions to be advantageously facilitated with respect to prior artsolutions. Its structure, functionality and features provide for amulti-party solution for preparing transaction information (e.g., adocuments) for international trade receivables transactions, submittingthe transaction information (e.g., the documents) to its respectiveparties and enabling payment of the international trade receivablestransactions in accordance with the respective transaction information.

The task manager layer 102 and the platform functionality layer 104 areexamples of interconnected software layers. Preferably, but notnecessarily, the task manager layer 102 is accessible via the Internet(i.e., a public network). Through such Internet accessibility, users ofthe receivables transaction management platform 100, who already haveaccess to the Internet, may perform the transaction information workflowtasks and the export receivables tasks over a public network enabledconnection without the need for installing any new software or hardware.Another advantage of such network connectivity is that users of a commonexporting entity who are physically located at disparate locations(e.g., different cities, states, countries, etc) may seamlesslycollaborate, review and/or facilitate required tasks.

The task manager layer 102 is configured for facilitating management oftransaction information workflow tasks and export receivables tasks. Thetask manager layer 102 includes an export receivables manager 106, abank workflow manager 108 and third party workflow manager 110. Examplesof managing transaction information workflow tasks and exportreceivables tasks includes uploading and reading letter of credit orother transaction data, facilitating preparation of a transactioninformation portfolio (e.g., a document portfolio) required forsettlement of an international trade receivables transaction, performingsystem-managed verification of required portions (e.g., documents) ofthe transaction information portfolio, facilitating electronicsubmission of the transaction information portfolio (e.g., the documentportfolio) to a designated recipient and facilitating system-managedacceptance of the transaction information (e.g., the documents).

Various types of users are authorized for interacting with the variousmanagers (106-110). Users of the export receivables manager 106 include,but are not limited to, one or more parties of an organization engagedin exporting goods who have the responsibility for initiating,overseeing and/or settling respective aspects of international tradereceivables transactions. An export administrator and/or internationalcredit managers for a company are examples of such users of the exportreceivables manager 106. Users of the bank workflow manager 108 include,but are not limited to, one or more parties of an international bankingorganization who have the responsibility for reviewing and approving ordisapproving transaction information delivered for payment with respectto international trade receivables transactions. A document examiner ina bank examination department located in the United States or othercountries are examples of such a user of the bank workflow manager 108.Users of the third-party workflow manager 110 include, but are notlimited to, one or more parties of an organization engaged in buyinggoods, brokering various aspects of international trade receivablestransactions and providing third-party transaction information (e.g.,documents). A designated representative of an entity such as anexporter, importer, bank, freight forwarder, insurers, couriers, andother third-parties engaged in an international trade receivablestransaction are an example of users of the third-party workflow manager110.

The export receivables manager 106 provides export entities withfunctionality for import of data (e.g., payment contract information),for creating instances of international trade receivables transactions,managing and editing transaction information, facilitating third-partytransaction information creation workflow and facilitating presentationor delivery of transaction information to banks, buyers, exporters,third parties and/or other entities. The bank workflow manager 108enables international trade banks to receive, review, print and givefeedback on international trade transaction information for letter ofcredit, documentary collection and open account transactions presentedby beneficiaries. In one embodiment, a bank examiners log onto thesecure site (e.g., a receivables transaction management platform portal)and access respective portion of the transaction informationindividually or as part of an associated set/collection (e.g., atransaction information portfolio), which is locked and cannot be editedand which can be printed with one keystroke. Workflow of the bankworkflow manager 108 is provided to permit examiners to facilitatediscrepancy feedback with respect to a designated payment contract.Additionally, the bank workflow manager 108 includes functionality forgenerating reports, searching and retrieving information and digitallystoring transaction information. The third-party workflow manager 110enables agents, buyers or any other third party to receive, review,print and give feedback on international trade transaction informationdelivered by users. In one embodiment, users of the third-party workflowmanager 110 log onto the secure site (e.g., a receivables transactionmanagement platform portal) and open portions of the transactioninformation individually or as part of an associated set/collection(e.g., a transaction information portfolio), which is locked and cannotbe edited and which can be printed with on keystroke. Workflow of thethird-party workflow manager 110 is provided to permit buyer or agentusers to facilitate discrepancy feedback to the designated beneficiary.

The platform functionality layer 104 is accessible by the managers(106-110) of the task manager layer 102 and is configured for enablingfacilitation of the transaction information workflow tasks and theexport receivables tasks. In one embodiment, the platform functionalitylayer 104 includes a plurality of modules configured for impartingfunctionality necessary for facilitating such transaction informationworkflow tasks and export receivables tasks. Examples of suchfunctionality and associated modules include, but are not limited to, auser/workflow functionality module 112, a data mapping functionalitymodule 114, a data analysis and reporting functionality module 116, adata storage and access functionality module 118, an informationexchange functionality module 120, a discrepancy feedback functionalitymodule 122, a data matching functionality module 124 and a file parsingfunctionality module 126.

User/workflow functionality controls the creation, review, approval, anddistribution of accurate transaction information for international tradereceivables transactions. In one embodiment, a customized documentlibrary is created from each exporter's paper shipping information(e.g., documents) so users see on the screen what they usually see onpaper. One useful and advantageous aspect of workflow functionality isthat information (i.e., data) from a payment contract document (e.g., aletter of credit) may be written directly from a digital version thepayment contract document to required documents (i.e., informationextracted from the digital version of the payment contract and used inpopulating fields of required system-populated fields of transactioninformation. Through such extracting and populating functionality,errors associated with manual data entry and transcriptions are reduced,if not eliminated.

Additionally, user/workflow functionality is preferably, but notnecessarily, configurable on a customer-by-customer basis (i.e.,user-by-user basis) depending upon the transaction information that isessential for their business and process. Users can identify differentdocuments as the main data entry points. Internal review and approvalprocesses are included and the various functions under export documentreceivables manager module 116 can be assigned or withheld fromindividual users based on the role of such user. Custom configureduser/workflow functionality supports internal documentation policies andprocedures of an exporter. Additionally, this user/workflowfunctionality also provides for every change made to any document ordata (i.e., transaction information) being captured with the user name,a date stamp and/or time stamp for tracking/auditing purposes.

Mapping and cross-referencing of information across the requireddocuments (i.e., transaction information) of an international tradereceivables transaction enables the creation and submission ofintegrated and consistent “smart documents”, which share common portionsof information. In one embodiment, the data mapping functionality module114 is configured for providing data parsing functionality for each userbank's formats for delivering data. This parsing capability enablestransaction information (e.g., data) to be read directly from anelectronic copy (e.g., digital copy) of documents and data delivered bybanks, to store the data in a database (i.e., as provided for by thedata storage and access functionality module 118) and to automaticallymap this data to all the required system-populated transactioninformation fields.

The platform functionality layer 104 enables Internet connectivity.Through such Internet connectivity, tasks performed by the managers(106-110) of the task manager layer 102 may be performed in a flexible,secure and reliable means. In one embodiment of such Internetconnectivity, the managers (106-110) of the task manager layer 102 maybe accessed at almost any time from almost anywhere through anintuitive, common website interface. Document sharing, verification andexecution are securely facilitated via encrypted information exchangeand digitized signatures, tracking of revisions to transactioninformation, and time stamping of each manager interaction event.

The platform functionality layer 104 serves as a common informationmanagement platform and repository that enables uploading and archivingof transaction information, communications between various users, andfiling of information. Accordingly, the platform functionality layer 104provides for centralized, secure information storage thereby eliminatingthe need for storing and maintaining paper files.

Third party access interface functionality enables third parties suchas, for example, freight forwarders and insurance providers to provide(e.g., upload) required transaction information that is prepared byrespective third parties. In every international trade receivablestransaction, certain transaction information needs to be delivered bythird party freight forwarders, insurance companies, inspectioncompanies or government agencies (e.g., third-party prepared transactioninformation). This transaction information must match the terms of agoverning transaction information such as a payment contract (e.g.,letter of credit) or purchase order. The third party access interfacemodule 120 is configured for users (e.g., an exporter) to createdocument templates are necessary to simplify and accelerate the deliveryof compliant transaction information by such third parties.

The data reporting and analysis functionality enables real-time tradereceivables reporting and business intelligence for proactively managingcost and risk. This functionality enables exporters to analyze keyperformance metrics such as, for example, transaction fees, countryrisk, settlement duration, transaction duration, vender performance,customer credit exposure and the like. Additionally, this functionalityprovides for enterprise-wide visibility and a means for measuringcurrent status and trends across dispersed global business units. In oneembodiment, statistical reports may be generated in accordance withthree different categories: Fees, Logistics, and Transactions. Data forthese reports is drawn from information managed by the receivablestransaction management platform. For example, a Banking Fees Reportprovides a detailed analysis of the banking fees incurred with eachshipment, a Logistics Details report provides critical shipping dateinformation and tracks third party service providers and their fees, anda Transaction Details report provides an overview of key shipment andexpiry dates, bank fees and DSO performance.

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a workflow structure 200 forfacilitating management of international trade receivables transactionsin accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein. A data source202 facilitates transfer of transaction information (e.g., data and/ordocuments) for submission to a receivables transaction managementplatform 204. An exporter 206 initiates and facilitates such submission.It should be understood that this transaction information at leastpartially enables facilitation of an international trade receivablestransaction in accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein.Means 208 such as, for example, courier, facsimile, e-mail and/oron-line form is utilized for transferring such transaction information(e.g., delivery of the one or more documents). A letter of creditdocument, a purchase order document, sales contract document, an invoicedocument, a packing list document, a certificate document, a transportmanifest document, a fax template and the like are examples oftransaction information.

The exporter 206 then initiates providing required and/or requestedportions of the transaction information to the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204. The receivables transaction management platform100 depicted in FIG. 1 is an example of the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204 depicted in FIG. 2. Examples of means 210 forproviding the transaction information to the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204 include, but are not limited to digital uploadeddirectly from the data source 202 (e.g., a file from which thetransaction information can be extracted by the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204), transmitting scanned images of documents fromthe exporter 206 and transmitting digital files from the exporter 206.Where the means 210 for providing all or a portion of the transactioninformation includes digitally transmitting such transaction informationdirectly from the data source 202, the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204 issues a receipt confirmation for reception bythe data source 202 in response to successful reception of suchtransaction information. A similar confirmation is contemplated whentransaction information is provided to the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204 from the exporter 206 (e.g., an e-mail to theexporter 206 indicating successful reception or an on-screen messageindicating successful reception).

Once the transaction information (i.e., as provided from the data source202) is provided to the receivables transaction management platform 204,the receivables transaction management platform 204 facilitatesmanagement of such transaction information (i.e., transactioninformation management). Such management includes enabling editingand/or formatting of the information comprised by such transactioninformation. Preferably, but not necessarily, such management issystem-directed, whereby transaction information management is performedin a consistent and systematic manner.

As required during management of transaction information, thereceivables transaction management platform 204 facilitates aggregationof required transaction information that is prepared and/or provided byone or more respective third parties 212 (i.e., third-party transactioninformation such as third-party documents). The third-party transactioninformation represents information that is completed by a respectivethird party 212 and are subsequently provided to the exporter 206 fordelivery to the receivables transaction management platform 204 or thatare provided directly to the receivables transaction management platform204 by the respective third party 212. Examples of such third-partytransaction information include, but are not limited to, airway bills,insurance certificates, inspection certificates, government certificatesand the like.

A variety of means 214 may be implemented for facilitating delivery ofthe third-party transaction information to the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204. Examples of means 214 for providing the thirdparty transaction information to the receivables transaction managementplatform 204 include, but are not limited to, digital data uploadeddirectly from the respective third party 212 (e.g., a file from whichthe information can be extracted by the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204), transmitting scanned images of the third partydocuments from the exporter 206 after being provided to the exporter 206via a means 216 such as, for example, courier, facsimile, e-mail and/oron-line form, and transmitting digital data and document files from theexporter 206 after being provided to the exporter 206 via the means 216for providing the transaction information to the exporter 206. Where themeans 214 for providing a third-party transaction information to thereceivables transaction management platform 204 is digitally uploadingthe transaction information directly from the third party 212, thereceivables transaction management platform 204 issues a receiptconfirmation for reception by the respective third party 212 in responseto successful reception of the transaction information. A similarconfirmation is contemplated when transaction information is provided tothe receivables transaction management platform 204 from the exporter206 (e.g., an e-mail to the exporter 206 and/or third party 212indicating successful reception or an on-screen message indicatingsuccessful reception).

The underlying objective of receiving transaction information (i.e.,completed documents and/or data) is preparation and review oftransaction information portfolios for upon which respectiveinternational trade receivables transactions are carried out. Thereceivables transaction management platform 204 facilitates suchpreparation functionality in a manner that is systematic, reliable andrepeatable. Through such a systematic, reliable and repeatable manner ofpreparing transaction information portfolios, the receivablestransaction management platform 204 is able to coordinate, control andverify the completeness and accuracy of the transaction informationcomprised by each transaction information portfolio (i.e., facilitatingverification of the transaction information comprised by a transactioninformation portfolio). Additionally, this transaction informationpreparation functionality is carried out in a transaction-specificmanner, whereby the specific transaction information required forpreparing a particular transaction information portfolio is determinedby the receivables transaction management platform 204 (e.g., dependentupon the type of payment contract).

After preparation and verification of the transaction informationportfolio and after certain aspects of the international tradereceivables transaction has been completed (e.g., goods of theinternational trade receivables transaction being delivered to adesignated freight forwarder or importer), the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204 facilitates acceptance of the transactioninformation portfolio for enabling settlement of the international tradereceivables transaction. To this end, the receivables transactionmanagement platform 204 facilitates delivery of the verified transactioninformation portfolio to a recipient 218 for enabling access of thetransaction information portfolio by the recipient 218. Means 220 forfacilitating delivery of the verified transaction information portfolioby the recipient 218 include, for example, hand delivery of a printedcopy of the verified transaction information portfolio, facsimile of theverified transaction information portfolio, delivery via emailattachment and on-line delivery via a website (i.e., a receivablestransaction management platform portal). After the recipient 218 gainsaccess to and examines (i.e., reviews) the verified transactioninformation portfolio, the recipient 218 presents their disposition 222of the verified transaction information portfolio to the receivablestransaction management platform 204. Such disposition may be eitheracceptance of the transaction information portfolio or rejection of thetransaction information portfolio in view of one or more discrepantelements of transaction information (e.g., one or more documents and/ora portion of its constituent data). In the case where the recipientrejects the transaction information portfolio in view of one or morediscrepancies in the transaction information, the recipient 218 providesa discrepancy report, which delineates one or more discrepancies in thetransaction information. In view of the one or more discrepancies, thereceivables transaction management platform facilitates negotiation ofthe discrepant transaction information (e.g., assessing the allegeddiscrepancies and determining whether to submit revised copies of anydiscrepant transaction information). Preferably, but not necessarily,delivery and, if required, negotiation of the transaction informationportfolio are facilitated on-line via the receivables transactionmanagement platform portal, whereby interaction between the receivablestransaction management platform 204 and the recipient (e.g., submissionof the discrepancy report and submission of any subsequent revisedtransaction information) is implemented in a system-managed manner.

When the transaction information portfolio is acceptable to therecipient 218, the receivables transaction management platform 204facilitates any further execution of such transaction information andrecords the corresponding finalized documents and disposition of thetransaction information portfolio. Through the workflow structure 200,international trade receivables transactions are facilitatedadvantageously with respect to conventional approaches for facilitatingsuch transactions. More specifically, the workflow structure 200 resultsin streamlined transactions with reduced administrative, delivery andthird-party costs and operational risks and that improve final deliverytimelines for good of the transactions.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a computer-implement method 300configured for facilitating management of international tradereceivables transactions in accordance with the inventive disclosuresmade herein. With respect to managing a single international tradereceivables transaction, an operation 302 is performed for facilitatingpreparation of a transaction information portfolio for the internationaltrade receivables transaction. After preparing the transactioninformation portfolio, an operation 304 is performed for facilitatingsubmission of the transaction information portfolio for reception by adesignated recipient (e.g., an issuing bank for an export letter ofcredit), followed by an operation 306 being performed for facilitatingsystem-managed acceptance of the transaction information portfolio.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of the operation 302 for facilitatingpreparation of a verified transaction information portfolio for theinternational trade receivables transaction. A step 308 is performed forprocessing payment contract information (e.g., export letter of creditinformation). Examples of such processing include, but are not limitedto, electronically receiving payment contract information (e.g.,parsable data), parsing payment contract information, storing contractpayment information and the like. In response to processing the paymentcontract information, a step 310 is performed for determining requiredtransaction information for the international trade receivablestransaction, followed by a step 312 for populating all of a portion ofsystem-populated transaction information fields with respective portionsof the payment contract information. System-populated transactioninformation fields are defined herein as transaction information fields(e.g., of documents) that are populated by a receivables transactionmanagement platform in accordance with the inventive disclosures madeherein.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the payment contract information isuploaded digitally and is in a system-extractable format. In onespecific embodiment of system-extraction functionality, a userfacilitates uploading of transaction information (e.g., a letter ofcredit or purchase orders) from one of any number of data sources to thereceivables transaction management platform. The receivables transactionmanagement platform parses the transaction information into identifieddata fields. After reviewing uploaded or manually entered transactioninformation, the user can then standardize data presentation and savethe data (i.e., transaction information) to a data storage portion ofthe receivables transaction management platform (e.g., a database). Oncesaved the data is then automatically mapped to required fields in thesystem-populated transaction information fields without the need for anyre-keying of data. Accordingly, such an approach for populating thefields of the documents includes systematically extracting the paymentcontract information and populating fields of required system-populatedtransaction information fields.

One advantageous aspect of the inventive disclosures made herein is thatfunctionality is provided for data parsing of almost all bank formats ofSWIFT. SWIFT (Society for World-wide Interbank FinancialTelecommunications) is a computer-based message switching system used bymost international banks as a method of making overseas payments, amongother things. Key benefits of such parsing are saving time, no re-keyingof data so errors are eliminated and data is mapped consistently acrossall documents in intended fields. Another advantageous aspect of theinventive disclosures made herein is that functionality is provided fordata parsing of a variety of formats of purchase order, inventory andother international trade data created by user companies. Key benefitsof such parsing are saving time, no re-keying of data so errors areeliminated and data is mapped consistently across all documents inintended fields.

In accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein, the documentpreparation process includes automation for parsing a payment contractinto its data components and mapping the data components to theappropriate locations in the appropriate documents. This capability issupports other advantageous and novel capabilities. One example of suchother advantageous and novel capabilities is data matching functionalitythat compares information in documents of the transaction informationportfolio to the information in the corresponding payment contract andenabling access of the comparison by a recipient of the transactioninformation portfolio (e.g., a bank or importer). This functionalitywill advantageously assist in facilitating acceptance of the transactioninformation portfolio and, thus, settlement of the correspondinginternational trade receivables transaction (e.g., the process forexamining and denoting disposition of transaction information in thetransaction information portfolio). As the use of international trade“Straight Through Processing” (STP) becomes more widespread, thisfunctionality will become increasingly valuable and useful.

Determination of the required transaction information for aninternational trade receivables transaction is at least partiallydependant upon the type of the international trade transaction and/or atype of the payment contract. Additionally, at least a portion of thetransaction information may be system-mandated (i.e., default documentsand data), which are dependent upon the type of the international tradetransactions and/or the type of the payment contract. Examples of suchrequired transaction information includes, but are not limited to, aletter of credit document, a purchase order document, sales contractdocument, an invoice document, a packing list document, a certificatedocument, a transport manifest document, a fax template, government orcustoms forms and the like.

After populating such system-populated transaction information fieldswith payment contract data, the operation 302 enables variousfunctionalities to be facilitated for furthering preparation of thetransaction information portfolio. Examples of such functionalitiesinclude, but are not limited to, functionality for enabling uploading ofthird party prepared transaction information (i.e., at a step 314),functionality for enabling editing of transaction information comprisedby the transaction information portfolio (i.e., at a step 316),functionality for enabling association of contract-specific conditionalinformation (i.e., at a step 318), functionality for enabling creationof duplicate transactions (i.e., at a step 320) and functionality forenabling data matching between input data and information on prepareddocuments (i.e., at a step 322).

To enable such editing functionality, the third-party transactioninformation may be provided in a form that is system-editable (e.g.,editable .pdf file format). In one embodiment of such editingfunctionality, the method 100 is configured for allowing users to makeedits and add additional data such as dates and amounts that are notincluded in the source data directly in Adobe .pdf images of customizeddocument templates. This enables users to see exactly what their printedtransaction information will look like as they make the changes. Also,every field, including labels can be edited in every document. Thiscreates a substantially flexible document structure that is necessary tomeet the requirements of export transactions according to paymentcontracts such as letters of credit.

The functionality enabling association of contract-specific conditionalinformation is useful in that payment contracts often include an“Additional Conditions” section describing conditions that must becomplied with for the transaction to be approved. In one embodiment ofthis functionality, a tool is provided for allowing a reference to anadditional condition to be designated and associated with a group ofdocuments such that the reference is outputted (e.g., displayed orprinted) on each of those documents. Thus, this functionality saves timeand dramatically increases the likelihood that the additional conditionsare met (e.g., whereby a reference to the condition is provided on eachone of a plurality of associated documents when such documents areoutputted).

The functionality for enabling creation of duplicate transactions allowsefficient implementation of multiple transactions under a single paymentcontract (e.g., a letter of credit under which several relatedtransactions are settled) or multiple similar payment contracts. The‘duplicate draw’ functionality saves time and reduces errors byautomatically copying prior transaction information into a newtransaction. Once any necessary information that has changed (e.g., thetransaction name, transaction reference number, ship date and quantity),the transaction information portfolio for the new transaction can beprepared without any substantive duplication of effort and in a mannerthat ensures that critical elements of the new transaction informationportfolio match that of the original exactly. Preferably, but notnecessarily, users may define filters for determining how much of thetransaction information from a previous transaction is duplicated in thenew transaction.

A step 322 is performed for providing system-managed verification ofrequired transaction information in the transaction informationportfolio. In one embodiment, such system-managed verification isperformed dependent upon the type of the international trade transactionand/or the type of the payment contract. Through such verification, adesired probability that the transaction information comprised by eachtransaction information portfolio is complete and accurate may beachieved.

Preferably, but not necessarily, such transaction information isconfigured (e.g., designed, prepared and maintained) in a manner that isUCP 500 compliant. Accordingly, through verification of a transactioninformation portfolio, the transaction information portfolio has beendetermined and acknowledged to be UCP 500 compliant, and digitallydelivered transaction information is certified as being UCP 500compliant. Such UCP 500 compliant transaction information includessignatures (e.g., printed signatures and/or digital signatures) that areUCP 500 compliant and include system-implemented markings that indicatewhich transaction information documentation are copies and whichtransaction information documentation are originals.

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of the operation 304 for facilitatingsubmission of the transaction information portfolio for reception by thedesignated recipient. A step 330 is performed for bundling transactioninformation (e.g., documents and data) comprised by the transactioninformation portfolio. Bundling creates a linkage between variouselements of the transaction information for ensuring their subsequenttransmission, delivery, examination, revision and/or acceptance as acomplete and related set of transaction information. Additionally,bundling preferably, but not necessarily, provides for requiredoriginals and copies of transaction information (e.g., documents) of atransaction information portfolio being digitally “stitched” togetherinside one large Adobe .pdf document and locked against editing. To thisend, an association is provided between data elements (e.g., populatablefields) in each of transaction information component (e.g., document)comprised by the transaction information portfolio. This associationenables relative revision levels (i.e., a current revision level foreach document) and associated tracking of such transaction informationto be implemented.

After performing the bundling, a step 332 is performed for enablingaccess to the bundled documents (i.e., the bundled transactioninformation portfolio) and a step 334 is performed for transmitting atransaction information submission notification to the designatedrecipient. Preferably, but not necessarily, enabling access to thebundled transaction information portfolio includes enabling access overa public network (e.g., the Internet) by via a website (e.g., areceivables transaction management platform portal). One example of thetransaction information portfolio submission notification is an e-mailthat includes a link to a section of the website from which access maybe facilitated (e.g., a log-in page of the receivables transactionmanagement platform portal).

Preferably, but not necessarily, submission of a transaction informationportfolio includes submission (e.g., digital delivery) of UCP 500compliant transaction information comprised by such transactioninformation portfolio. Accordingly, through delivery of such UCPcompliant transaction information, the associated international tradereceivables transaction is settled with a high degree of credibility,certainty and uniformity, regardless of the country in which thetransaction takes place. In one embodiment, such digitally deliveredtransaction information includes signatures (e.g., printable signaturesand/or digital signatures) that are UCP 500 compliant and includessystem-implemented markings that indicate which documentation are copiesand which documentation are originals.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of the operation 306 for facilitatingsystem-managed acceptance of the transaction information portfolio. Astep 340 is performed for receiving the submission notificationtransmitted in response to submission of the original transactioninformation portfolio (i.e., at the step 334 in FIG. 5). The submissionnotification consists of an e-mail message to the recipient, whichincludes a receivables transaction management platform portal link(i.e., a website link) at which the recipient can gain on-line access tothe transaction information portfolio corresponding to the submissionnotification. A step 342 is performed for accessing the transactioninformation portfolio. Such accessing the transaction informationportfolio includes logging into the receivables transaction managementplatform portal and subsequently navigating to a webpage where thetransaction information portfolio is accessed.

After accessing the transaction information portfolio, a step 344 isperformed for denoting the disposition of each document in thetransaction information portfolio (e.g., after a thorough examination ofeach document). Each document is denoted as being discrepant oracceptable. For each document that is denoted as being discrepant, acorresponding discrepancy is specified. In one embodiment, the act ofdenoting a document as discrepant mandates that at least onecorresponding discrepancy to be specified. A webpage includingselectable boxes for designating whether each document is accepted ordiscrepant and having fields for denoting discrepancies associated witheach document having been denoted as being discrepant is an example of ameans for enabling the disposition of transaction information to befacilitated. The functionality associated with the step 344 is anexample of discrepancy feedback functionality.

After the disposition of each document has been denoted, a step 346 isperformed for submitting a document disposition notification forreception by the receivables transaction management platform. In oneembodiment, the document disposition notification (e.g., a messagereceived and acted on by the receivables transaction managementplatform) is submitted in response to selecting a button designatingcompletion of the current portfolio examination step.

When none of the transaction information in the transaction informationportfolio is denoted as including discrepant information, the method 300proceeds with submitting the transaction information to the appropriateparty(ies) for enabling settlement of the transaction to proceed offlineunder the terms and conditions defined in the payment contract.

When one or more elements of the transaction information of thetransaction information portfolio is denoted as including discrepantinformation, a step 348 is performed for requesting instruction for howto proceed from the exporter of the goods in the transaction. Examplesof such instruction for how to proceed include, but are not limited to,submitting revised transaction information to exporter's bank and/orbuyer's bank, submitting the transaction information portfolio as-is(i.e., including the document(s) with discrepant information) to buyerand/or buyer's bank, holding the transaction information portfolio andsending a message to buyer and/or buyer's bank regarding the discrepantinformation, and terminating the process for allowing the exporter toresolve matters/proceed offline.

In response to the instructions from the exporter being submittingrevised transaction information to the recipient of the transactioninformation portfolio, a step 350 is performed for facilitating revisionof discrepant transaction information (i.e., revising information thataffects one or more elements of the transaction information). Examplesof tasks associated with facilitating transaction information revisioninclude, but are not limited to, requesting additional information fromthe original recipient of the transaction information portfolio,identifying specific documents and data associated with discrepantinformation, identifying information fields associated with discrepantinformation, enabling modification to information in fields of one ormore documents, modifying information in one or more system-populatedtransaction information fields, modifying information in one or morefields of a third-party provided document and sourcing a replacementthird party document.

After appropriate revision of the discrepant information is completed, astep 352 is performed for enabling access to the revised version of thediscrepant transaction information (i.e., the revised document) and astep 354 is performed for submitting submission notification forreception by the recipient. One embodiment of enabling access to therevised document includes replacing access to a previous version of thetransaction information with access to the revised transactioninformation. Thereafter the operation 306 continues at the step 340where the recipient receives the submission notification (i.e., therevised transaction information submission notification). In oneembodiment of enabling access to the revised document, revised versionsof discrepant elements of the transaction information are individuallyre-submitted to the designated recipient whereby transaction informationdenoted as being acceptable need not be resubmitted. Eliminating theneed to re-examine such acceptable transaction informationadvantageously saves time and resources.

In response to the instructions from the exporter being other thaninstructions to submit revised document(s), the method 300 proceeds,accordingly. For example, the transaction information portfolio can besent as-is (including discrepant information) to the buyer and/orbuyer's bank, the document and data portfolio can be held while amessage regarding the discrepant information is sent to buyer and/orbuyer's bank, and the system managed process can be suspended forallowing the Exporter to resolve matters/proceed off-line.

Referring now to computer readable medium, methods, processes and/oroperations adapted for carrying out international trade receivablestransaction functionality as disclosed herein are tangibly embodied bycomputer readable medium having instructions thereon for carrying outsuch functionality. In one specific embodiment, the instructions aretangibly embodied for carrying out the workflow structure 200 and/or themethod 300 disclosed above to facilitate international trade receivablestransaction functionality. The instructions may be accessible by one ormore data processors from a memory apparatus (e.g. RAM, ROM, virtualmemory, hard drive memory, etc), from an apparatus readable by a driveunit of the data processing system (e.g., a diskette, a compact disk, atape cartridge, etc) or both. Accordingly, embodiments of computerreadable medium in accordance with the inventive disclosures made hereininclude a compact disk, a hard drive, RAM or other type of storageapparatus that has imaged thereon a computer program (i.e., a set ofinstructions) adapted for carrying out international trade receivablestransaction functionality in accordance with the inventive disclosuresmade herein.

Embodiments of systems, platforms and methods in accordance with theinventive disclosures made herein lend themselves well to e-UCP letterof credit (LC) transactions. E-UCP is a supplement to current existingUniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP500), andgoverns the use of electronic presentation of transaction information.Embodiments of such systems, platforms and methods in accordance withthe inventive disclosures made herein may be configured for enablingfacilitation of steps required for an issuing bank to make internationaltrade receivables transactions entire e-UCP compliant. Associatedbenefits include, but are not limited to, elimination of couriercharges, elimination of advising bank and first examination bankcharges, streamlined processing that reduces transaction turn-aroundtimes, and overall reduction in discrepancies.

There are at least two types of scenarios for e-UCP transactions ininternational trade receivables transactions. In first type of scenario,the issuing bank sends a letter of credit directly to the beneficiaryand bypasses the advising bank. The beneficiary subsequently submitsdocuments to the issuing bank for examination and payment. In a secondtype of scenario, the issuing bank sends a letter of credit through anadvising bank. The beneficiary subsequently sends documents to theadvising bank for examination. The advising bank then examinesdocuments, and claims payment sending documents to the issuing bank forfinal settlement.

Referring now specifically to the first scenario, there is no advisingbank. The transaction flow involves the issuing bank that issues theletter of credit and submits the letter of credit directly to thebeneficiary. Once documents are ready to present per the letter ofcredit terms, the beneficiary submits the documents directly to theissuing bank. Preferably the letter of credit is formatted as a SWIFTMT700 message type. The issuing bank issues the letter of credit as itdoes normally but includes following terms: 1.) the letter of creditmust reference that it is subject to the Supplement of the UniformCustoms and Practice for Documentary Credits for Electronic Presentation(eUCP), 2.) the letter of credit should specify the applicable versionof eUCP, 3.) if no version is indicated, the letter of credit is subjectto the version in effect on the date the letter of credit was issued and4.) the letter of credit must state a place for presentation of theelectronic records in field 47a. The issuing bank sends the letter ofcredit directly to the beneficiary via a digital file that preferablyutilizes the bank's web-based advising product.

In coordination with the beneficiary, a system in accordance with theinventive disclosures made herein is used for facilitating downloadingof the letter of credit in its digital form into the system and creatinga new transaction record for the international receivables tradetransaction. The system, system administrator and/or the beneficiaryselects documents required by the letter of credit terms from a digitallibrary of documents and ties them to the transaction record. Thesedigital documents include, but are not limited to invoices, packinglists, various certificates, etc. The terms of the letter of credit areauto-mapped (i.e., associated) to the required documents. Additionalterms outside of the letter of credit are inputted, via the systemand/or the beneficiary, into the documents where required.

The system, system administrator and/or the beneficiary provideinstructions to the freight forwarder/carrier to create the bill oflading or air waybill. The system, system administrator and/or thebeneficiary receive a copy of the bill of lading or air waybill, andinsure that the terms are correct. If correct, the system, systemadministrator and/or the beneficiary will: if an ocean bill of lading isrequired, upload the bill of lading from the carrier's web-site in itsdigital form to the system and, if an air waybill is required, aduplicate air waybill will be created directly from the system's digitallibrary of air waybills.

Once documents are complete, the system, system administrator and/or thebeneficiary will submit the documents to the issuing bank via thesystem. The submission process generates an email to the appropriateexamination unit at the issuing bank. Presentation will match the eUCPrequirement in Article e5a that electronic records must state a placefor presentation of electronic records, which should be noted in the LCSWIFT message tag 47a. The examination unit at the issuing bank willreceive an email notification from TRADE that documents have beensubmitted under a specified transaction reference and are ready to exam.The issuing bank's examination unit logs into the system (e.g., user-IDsand passwords are given in advance), and is directed to the subjecttransaction. Examination copies are then downloaded and reviewed. Ifdiscrepancies are noted, the discrepancy notice is provided via thesystem and the bank notifies the system and/or the beneficiary. Thesystem administrator and/or the beneficiary correct the discrepancy andre-submit the corrected document. Once documents are clean, the issuingbank prints out and provides the original documents as required by theletter of credit terms to the applicant, and makes payment to thebeneficiary.

In the event that the beneficiary of the letter of credit uses differentvendors to supply the product, or the letter of credit is transferable,the same steps as described above can apply relative to making theletter of credit eUCP compliant. The system administrator an/or thebeneficiary can still create the required documents and makearrangements with the carrier to have the bill of lading or air waybilldone digitally, and submit the documents on-line to the issuing bank.The process can still work, even in the event that the vendor suppliespaper documents to the carrier in order to get the shipment booked andloaded. Arrangements will still be made with the carrier to provide therelevant shipping documents as required by the letter of credit, whichwill be available via the system in digital form.

Referring now specifically to the second scenario, there are two banksinvolved with the LC transaction: the issuing bank and an advising bank.In order to make sure that the advising bank can comply with the eUCPterms, the advising bank will need to be either a foreign branch of theissuing bank or a correspondent of the issuing bank for whom the issuingbank provides back-office letter of credit processing. Preferably, theletter of credit is formatted as a SWIFT MT700 message type. The issuingbank issues the letter of credit as it does normally but includesfollowing terms: 1.) the letter of credit must reference that it issubject to the Supplement of the Uniform Customs and Practice forDocumentary Credits for Electronic Presentation (eUCP), 2.) the letterof credit should specify the applicable version of eUCP. 3.) if noversion is indicated, the letter of credit is subject to the version ineffect on the date the letter of credit was issued, 4.) the letter ofcredit must state a place for presentation of the electronic records infield 47a, and 5.) additional conditions include “soft restriction”language to the effect that the foreign branch of the issuing bank (orthe correspondent for which it does back-office processing) holdsspecial handling instructions regarding the payment and disposal ofdocuments.

When the letter of credit is issued, it is advised via SWIFT as an MT700message to the advising bank. The advising bank will preferably be theforeign branch of the issuing bank or the correspondent for which theissuing bank does back-office letter of credit processing (hereinafterincluded as advising bank). The advising bank will have access to asystem in accordance with the inventive disclosures made herein. Thesystem administrator in coordination with the beneficiary and theadvising bank, downloads the letter of credit in the SWIFT MT 700digital form into the system and creates a new transaction record.

The system, the system administrator and/or the beneficiary select thedocuments required by the letter of credit terms from the digitallibrary of documents and tie them to the transaction record. Thesedigital documents include invoices, packing lists, various certificates,etc. The terms of the letter of credit are auto-mapped (i.e.,associated) to the required documents. Additional terms outside of theletter of credit are input by the system administrator and/or thebeneficiary into the documents, where required.

The system, system administrator and/or the beneficiary provideinstructions to the freight forwarder/carrier to create the bill oflading or air waybill. The system, system administrator and/or thebeneficiary receive a copy of the bill of lading or air waybill, andinsure that the terms are correct. If correct, the system, systemadministrator and/or the beneficiary will: if an ocean bill of lading isrequired, upload the bill of lading from the carrier's web-site in itsdigital form to the system and, if an air waybill is required, aduplicate air waybill will be created directly from the system's digitallibrary of air waybills.

Once documents are complete, the system, system administrator and/or thebeneficiary submit the documents to the advising bank (or thecorrespondent for which the issuing bank does back-office LC processing)as the first examining bank via system. The submission process generatesan email to the appropriate examination unit at the advising/firstexamining bank. The examination unit at the advising bank receives anemail notification from TRADE that documents have been submitted under aspecified transaction reference and are ready to exam. The advisingbank's examination unit logs into the system and goes to the referencedtransaction. Examination copies are downloaded and reviewed. Ifdiscrepancies are noted, the discrepancy notice is provided via thesystem and the first examining bank notifies TRADE and/or beneficiary.The system, system administrator and/or the beneficiary correct thediscrepancy and re-submit the corrected document.

Once the documents are clean, the advising bank notifies the issuingbank that it has examined documents, they are clean, and requestspayment according to the letter of credit terms. After receipt of noticefrom the advising bank, the issuing bank logs into the system, go to thetransaction referenced by the advising bank, and print the documentsfrom the system for presentation to the buyer/letter of creditapplicant. Presentation should match the eUCP requirement in Article e5athat electronic records must state a place for presentation ofelectronic records, which should be noted in the LC SWIFT message tag47a.

In the event that the beneficiary of the letter of credit uses differentvendors to supply the product, or the letter of credit is transferable,the same steps can apply relative to making the letter of credit eUCPcompliant. The system administrator and/or the beneficiary can stillcreate the required documents and make arrangements with the carrier tohave the bill of lading or air waybill done digitally, and submit thedocuments on-line to the issuing bank. The process can still work, evenin the event that the vendor supplies paper documents to the carrier inorder to get the shipment booked and loaded. Arrangements will still bemade with the carrier to provide the relevant shipping documents asrequired by the letter of credit, which will be available on the systemin digital form.

In the preceding detailed description, reference has been made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may bepracticed. These embodiments, and certain variants thereof, have beendescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention. It is to be understood that other suitableembodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical and electricalchanges may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. For example, functional blocks shown in the figures could befurther combined or divided in any manner without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. To avoid unnecessary detail, thedescription omits certain information known to those skilled in the art.The preceding detailed description is, therefore, not intended to belimited to the specific forms set forth herein, but on the contrary, itis intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents,as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method configured forfacilitating export receivables workflow tasks, comprising: at least onedata processing device accessing, from memory coupled to said at leastone data processing device, instructions causing said at least one dataprocessing device to access settlement documents of an internationaltrade receivables transaction dependent upon a type of payment contractupon which the international trade receivables transaction is dependent;and said at least one data processing device accessing, from saidmemory, instructions causing said at least one data processing device toperform system-managed verification that transaction informationcontained in at least a portion of said settlement documents iscompliant with an international banking standard in accordance withwhich information of said payment contract is reviewed in response todetermining that all of said settlement documents are denoted as beingacceptable.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: said at least one data processing device accessing, fromsaid memory, instructions causing said at least one data processingdevice to bundle said settlement documents whereby an association isprovided between said settlement documents in response to verifying thatsaid transaction information is compliant with the international bankingstandard and to aggregate said settlement documents to form atransaction information portfolio comprising said settlement documents.3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising: saidat least one data processing device accessing, from said memory,instructions causing said at least one data processing device tosystematically extract information from the payment contract andpopulating fields of at least one of said settlement documents with saidextracted information.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,further comprising: said at least one data processing device accessing,from said memory, instructions causing said at least one data processingdevice to cause a disposition of each one of said settlement documentsto be denoted as being discrepant or acceptable; said at least one dataprocessing device accessing, from said memory, instructions causing saidat least one data processing device to cause a description correspondingto a corresponding discrepancy to be specified; and said at least onedata processing device accessing, from said memory, instructions causingsaid at least one data processing device to cause revised versions ofdiscrepant portions of said settlement documents to be individuallyre-submitted to a designated recipient whereby documents denoted asbeing acceptable need not be resubmitted.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2 wherein said instructions causing said at least onedata processing device to perform said bundling includes saidinstructions causing said at least one data processing device to causean original copy and a duplicate copy of at least one of said settlementdocuments to be digitally adjoined with each other in a un-editabledocument file.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, furthercomprising: said at least one data processing device accessing, fromsaid memory, instructions causing said at least one data processingdevice to determine a required condition associated with settling theinternational trade receivables transaction; and said at least one dataprocessing device accessing, from said memory, instructions causing saidat least one data processing device to associate the required conditionwith a plurality of said settlement documents whereby a reference to therequired condition is provided on at least one of said settlementdocuments when said settlement documents are outputted.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein causing said at least onedata processing device to perform system-managed verification that saidtransaction information portfolio is compliant with the internationalbanking standard includes causing said at least one data processingdevice to determine that said settlement documents have necessarysignature information indicating and certifying that said settlementdocuments are compliant with the international banking standard and havesystem-implemented markings that indicate which ones of such settlementdocuments are copies and which ones of said settlement documents areoriginals.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, furthercomprising: said at least one data processing device accessing, fromsaid memory, instructions causing said at least one data processingdevice to cause a disposition of each one of said settlement documentsto be denoted as being discrepant or acceptable; said at least one dataprocessing device accessing, from said memory, instructions causing saidat least one data processing device to cause a description correspondingto a corresponding discrepancy to be specified; and said at least onedata processing device accessing, from said memory, instructions causingsaid at least one data processing device to cause revised versions ofdiscrepant portions of said settlement documents to be individuallyre-submitted to a designated recipient whereby documents denoted asbeing acceptable need not be resubmitted.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 7, further comprising: said at least one data processingdevice accessing, from said memory, instructions causing said at leastone data processing device to determine a required condition associatedwith settling the international trade receivables transaction; and saidat least one data processing device accessing, from said memory,instructions causing said at least one data processing device toassociate the required condition with a plurality of said settlementdocuments whereby a reference to the required condition is provided onat least one of said settlement documents when said settlement documentsare outputted.
 10. A system configured for facilitating document andexport receivables workflow tasks, comprising: at least one dataprocessing device; instructions processable by said at least one dataprocessing device; and an apparatus from which said instructions areaccessible by said at least one data processing device; wherein saidinstructions are configured for causing said at least one dataprocessing device to: access settlement documents of an internationaltrade receivables transaction dependent upon a type of payment contractupon which the international trade receivables transaction is dependent;and perform system-managed verification that transaction informationcontained in at least a portion of said settlement documents iscompliant with an international banking standard in accordance withwhich information of said payment contract is reviewed in response todetermining that all of said settlement documents are denoted as beingacceptable.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein said instructions arefurther configured for causing said at least one data processing deviceto: bundle said settlement documents whereby an association is providedbetween said settlement documents in response to verifying that saidtransaction information is compliant with the international bankingstandard; systematically extract information from the payment contractand populating fields of at least one of said settlement documents withsaid extracted information; determine a required condition associatedwith settling the international trade receivables transaction; andassociate the required condition with a plurality of said settlementdocuments whereby a reference to the required condition is provided onat least one of said settlement documents when said settlement documentsare outputted.
 12. The system of claim 11 wherein said instructions arefurther configured for causing said at least one data processing deviceto: cause a disposition of each one of said settlement documents to bedenoted as being discrepant or acceptable; cause a descriptioncorresponding to a corresponding discrepancy to be specified; and causerevised versions of discrepant portions of said settlement documents tobe individually re-submitted to a designated recipient whereby documentsdenoted as being acceptable need not be resubmitted.
 13. The system ofclaim 11 wherein said instructions being configured for causing said atleast one data processing device to perform said bundling includes saidinstructions being configured for causing said at least one dataprocessing device to cause an original copy and a duplicate copy of atleast one of said settlement documents to be digitally adjoined witheach other in a un-editable document file.
 14. The system of claim 11wherein said instructions being configured for causing said at least onedata processing device to perform system-managed verification that saidtransaction information portfolio is compliant with the internationalbanking standard includes said instructions being configured for causingsaid at least one data processing device to determine that saidsettlement documents have necessary signature information indicating andcertifying that said settlement documents are compliant with theinternational banking standard and have system-implemented markings thatindicate which ones of such settlement documents are copies and whichones of said settlement documents are originals.
 15. A non-transientcomputer-readable medium having tangibly embodied thereon and accessibletherefrom a set of instructions interpretable by at least one dataprocessing device, said set of instructions configured for causing saidat least one data processing device to carry out operations for:accessing settlement documents of an international trade receivablestransaction dependent upon a type of a payment contract upon which theinternational trade receivables transaction is dependent; and performingsystem-managed verification that transaction information contained insaid settlement documents is compliant with an international bankingstandard in accordance with which information of the payment contract isreviewed in response to determining that all of said settlementdocuments are denoted as being acceptable.
 16. The non-transientcomputer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein said instructions arefurther configured for causing said at least one data processing deviceto carry out operations for bundling said settlement documents wherebyan association is provided between said settlement documents in responseto verifying that said transaction information is compliant with theinternational banking standard and for systematically extractinginformation from the payment contract and populating fields of at leastone of said settlement documents with said extracted information. 17.The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein saidinstructions are further configured for causing said at least one dataprocessing device to carry out operations for: causing a disposition ofeach one of said settlement documents to be denoted as being discrepantor acceptable; causing a description corresponding to a correspondingdiscrepancy to be specified; and causing revised versions of discrepantportions of said settlement documents to be individually re-submitted toa designated recipient whereby documents denoted as being acceptableneed not be resubmitted.
 18. The non-transient computer-readable mediumof claim 16 wherein said instructions being configured for causing saidat least one data processing device to carry our operations forperforming said bundling includes said instructions being configured forcausing said at least one data processing device to carry our operationsfor causing an original copy and a duplicate copy of at least one ofsaid settlement documents to be digitally adjoined with each other in aun-editable document file.
 19. The non-transient computer-readablemedium of claim 16 wherein said instructions are further configured forcausing said at least one data processing device to carry out operationsfor: determining a required condition associated with settling theinternational trade receivables transaction; and associating therequired condition with a plurality of said settlement documents wherebya reference to the required condition is provided on at least one ofsaid settlement documents when said settlement documents are outputted.20. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein saidinstructions being configured for causing said at least one dataprocessing device to carry out operations for performing system-managedverification that said transaction information portfolio is compliantwith the international banking standard includes said instructions beingconfigured for causing said at least one data processing device to carryout an operation for determining that said settlement documents havenecessary signature information indicating and certifying that saidsettlement documents are compliant with the international bankingstandard and have system-implemented markings that indicate which onesof such settlement documents are copies and which ones of saidsettlement documents are originals.